Streamer only

@alvinnir2 He said $1000 not $100.

You get what you pay for… it all depends on how revealing a system you have. 
Auralic makes a fabulous stand alone streamer but not in your price range.  Is there a noticeable difference between a  Wiim pro with an upgraded power supply ( about $550) and. an Ever-solo DMP A6 ($850) yes there is . Great sound comes from reducing jitter and having great clocks in a streamer and it cost $$$. If you choose to use “Roon” which cost a monthly subscription you will have more streaming options.  Blusound X and Eversolo DMP A6 are probably your best choices for around $1000.

pal OP

151 posts

04-02-2024 at 05:38am 

Thanks for the suggestions. My budget was under 1000 new or used. 

Hi @pal I think it’ll be up to you, figuring out whether benefit lies in spending your full budget or 10-20% of it. Here’s why -

Streamer DIY doesn’t require being tech-savvy but if you want fully plug-n-play enough to spend upwards of a grand, maybe the latter is the better route. For an off-the-shelf streamer system (basically a limited-purpose laptop in an AVR-looking chassis with, in some cases, specialized power supply of generally unsubstantiated performance benefits), your main concern should be connectivity (what does your DAC accept - asynchronous USB, TOSLINK, etc.?) and whether you like the on-screen or smartphone app. The OS/software part sometimes gets glazed over because most streamers use a company-made OS (often based on Linux?) and each has to keep theirs up, or else you eventually have a brick of an audio computer.

There is no empirical evidence that a streamer can affect sound quality in an audible way. All support for this belief is anecdotal and generally is held without practicing any proper testing controls. Some folks dislike this notion, but when recommending how a stranger should spend the USD 4-5 figure$ that many file transports now command, I think it’s in order to make clear.

Okay, stepping off that soapbox now 😅

Start with any computer you already have, while you learn more about streamer models within your budget and decide if/which ones are worth trying. Because, well, why wait if it doesn’t cost you anything to start now, hey? 

Aurender N100H are available used for $1200 or so on this site and others. My own ears provide “anecdotal “ evidence of a profound increase in sound quality above using my Mac laptop as a streamer. The difference is stark. I would recommend this as your $1000 solution .

A Bluesound Node w/ a LPS (Small green computer) because the app to run it is easy to use. The App is an important component. This is a bit over 1K and vey good,